Knockdown toy house.



No. 739,669. v PATENTED SEPT. 22, 1903.

G. E. GRIMM.

KNOGKDOWN TOY HOUSE. APPLIOATION rum: JULY 20. 19021 no M0DEL.- e mums-sum 1.

No. 739,669. PATENTED SEPT. 22, 1903.

G. E. GRIMM. KNOCKDOWN TOY HOUSE.

APPLIOATIQN FILED JULY 28, 1902: 0 MODEL. 6 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

17' S M MM PATENTBD SEPT. 22, 1903. G. E. GRIMM. KNOGKDOWN TOY HOUSE.

APPLICATION FILED JULY 26, 1902 no MODEL.

6 SHEETS-SHEET 3 am 0 9 1 9m 2 m P E S B T N E T A P M M I R G E Q 9 6 9 3 7 m N KNOGKDDWN TOY HOUSE.

APPLIUATION FILED JULY 26, 1902 6 SHEETS-SHEET 8- N0 MODEL.

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UNITED ST TEs Fatented September 22, 1901i.

Ph'r Nfr OFFICE.

KNOCKDOWN TOY HOUSE.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters" Patent No. 739,669, dated September 22, 1903.

Application filed July 26. 1902.

to furnish a knockdown toy house of paper which may be erected or taken apart in a few minutes, which will be inexpensive to manu- '1 acture, and which will be very durable.

My invention consists, first, in the arrangement of the base, in which a part of the box in which the several pieces from which the house is constructed are packed for shipment or storage, serves to bind or retain the floors of the lower story of the house, and in connection with these doors to form a means for securely supporting the corner-pieces of the house; secondly, in the construction of the cornerpieces of the house, which securely carry the side walls and roof; thirdly, in a novel means for securing the upper corners of the house; fourthly, in the construction of the roof of the house; fifthly, in certain other novel features of construction, which will be hereinafter fully described.

In the accompanying drawings, formingpart of this specification, and in which similar characters of reference indicate similar parts throughout the several views, Figure 1 is a perspective view of my toy house when completely erected; Fig. 2, a perspective view of a part of the box in which the pieces of the house are stored; Figs. 3 and 4, perspective views of the pieces for making the floors of the lower story of the house; Fig. 5, a perspective view of the porch-floor and part of,

one of the posts; Fig. 6, a perspective view of one of the posts for supporting the porchroof; Fig. 7, a perspective view of one of the side walls of the house, showing window; Fig. 8, a perspective view of bay-windowconstruction; Fig. 9, a perspective view of a side wall of the house, showing Windows and doors and means for carrying the porch-roof; Fig. 10, a perspective view showing under and rear side of porch-roof; Fig. 11, aperspective viewof the house, the end walls, a partition-' wall, and the corner-posts; Fig. 12, a perscam. 1 17.195. (in model.)

of the gable endsbeing removed; Fig. 17, a

perspective view of one of the gable ends; Fig. 18, a perspective view of the chimney;

.Fig. 19, an end elevation of one portion of the roof, showing the ridge-pole removed.

For cheapness and lightness the house is constructed of a strong paper, the so-called strawboard being an excellent material. The paper is printed or painted in any manner or color suitable for the purpose. The windows of the house are preferably constructed of mica, isinglass, celluloid, or any other suitable transparent material. They are bound or edged with paper to form a sash or printed for the purpose, and are glued in suitable openings formed in the sides of the house.

As has been before stated, the'principal object of my invention is to furnish atoy house which may be taken apart and placed in a box for shipment or storage. A part of the box a, Figs. 2, 11, and 15, in which the pieces of the house are placed for shipment or storage, serves to bind together the pieces which form the floor of the lower story of the house and, in connection with these pieces, to form the means for securing the lower ends of the corners of the house and the lower ends of the sides. In Figs. 3 and 4 the pieces forming the door of the lower story of the house are shown, I) being one piece and c the other, and in Fig. 11 these pieces are shown in place in base a. The pieces 27 c are made from flat pieces of paper scored along their sides parallel to their edges, so that they may be bent down to form a box-like structure when they are to be used for the flooring or opened out perfectly flat when the house is knocked down 7 structed of three pieces of paper cfg, each piece being bent at right angles along its longitudinal axis and secured one to the other by glue or in some other suitable manner. The central piece f is of considerably less width than the inner and outer pieces g 6, so as to form a groove 71., which'is adapted to receive the edges of the sides of the structure. At the lower and upper ends the piece g projects beyond the pieces cf. At the lower end this projection is passed in between the inclosing box CL and the floor-pieces l) c, which form an anchorage for it, and at the upper end it enters a hole in the pieces forming the roof, as presently described. These projecting ends are dipped in glue or some other suitable material in order to stiffen them and prevent any liability of their fraying out in use.

The sides 2' of the house are constructed from fiat sheets of paper, which are punched out to form windows j, which are covered with any suitable transparent material to represent glass. The material forming the windows is printed or has paper pasted upon it to represent sash. The edges of the sheets i are adapted to be placed within the grooves 7b in the cornerposts, and in order that they may enter these grooves easily they (the sides) should be somewhat thinner than the material out of which the central piece fof the post is constructed. The lower ends of the sides are adapted to be passed in between the box a and the sides of the flooring b c and are thereby securely held in place. Near the corners of the upper ends of the sides 71 I form notches Z, Figs. 7, 9, 11, and 14, which are adapted to interlock with a fastening m, made ofpaper, to prevent the upper parts of the sides from being withdrawn from the corner-pieces.

As shown in Fig. 14, the fasteners 'm are const'ruct-ed from a flat piece of paper, having near its ends notches n, which are adapted to engage one with the notch Z upon one side i and the other with the notch Zupon the adjacent side.

For the second story the floors consist of a flat piece of paper which is adapted to be supported by the.brackets 0, carried by the inner sides of the walls These brackets are preferably made from a flat thick piece of paper scored longitudinally along their centers and glued to the wall. Their unglued or upper portion is adapted to be bent over, as shown in Fig. 11, to support the floor and to be raised up to lie flat against the wall when the several parts are packed in the shipping-box.

The bay-window construction is shown in Fig. 8 and its top in Fig. 12-. The bay is made from'a flat piece of paper scored so that it may be bent to form sides 19 and Wings '1', bent at right angles to the sides, which are adapted to enter the grooves h in the corner-pieces (l, as shown in Fig.1. The bottom of the bay is formed by scoring and bending under passed in between the side of the box a and the end of the floor b. The top of the bay is formed of the closedbox-like structure shown in Fig. 12 and has on its lower side fasteners t, adapted to engage the inner upper sides 13 of the bay. These fasteners are formed of flat scored pieces of paper, one part adapted to be glued to the top and the other part adapted to be bent down, as shown.

The floor u of the porch (shown in Figs. 1 and 5) is formed of a stiff flat piece of paper and is furnished with fasteners 22, similar in all particulars to the fasteners t of the baywindow roof, which hold it in place in the box a. It is furnished with perforations 10, adapted to receive the lower ends of the columns 00, which are paper tubes of any suitable section. y is a collar on tubes as, which serves as a stop to hold them on the floor 10 as well as an ornament.

The porch-roof (shown in Figs. 1 and 10) is a box-like structure of triangular section. At its rear end it is furnished with an I'- shaped fastening 1, which is adapted to engage a similar fastening 2, glued or otherwise secured to the side of the house, as shown in Fig. 9. The piece forming the under side of the porch-roof is furnished with openings 3 to receive the upper ends of the columns .70.

4, Figs. 1 and 9, is a door opening out on the porch. This door is preferably secured to the wall in which it is placed by a paper hinge of any suitable kind.

The roof of the house is made so that when knocked down it may be folded perfectly flat. It consists, essentially, of two partsone, 5, covering the main part of 'the house and the other, 6, the wing. The part 5 is hinged at 7 8 and the part 6 at 9 and 10, and the part (3 is hinged to the part 5 at 11. The hinges may and preferably are formed by simply scoring the paper in a manner well known to paper-workers. Then the sides 12 of the roof are raised, they are held by a joiningstrip or ridge-pole 13, which has upon its edges grooves let to receive the ends of the sides. The joining-strip is formed of three pieces of paper glued together in a manner similar to those forming the corner-posts d. The gable ends of the roof are formed of triangular box-like structures 14, which are passed into the ends of the roof, and the sides of which are engaged by T-shaped lockingpieces 15, glued to the roof structure. These locking-pieces not only hold the end pieces in place, but in connection with these pieces insure the roof keeping its shape when raised.

10 represents perforations in the bottom part 17 of the roof, through which the tops of the corner-posts d pass to hold the roof on the sides.

Having thus described my invention, I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patentreasse- 1. In a toy house, in'combination, a base having a bottom and sides, a floor for each lower room consisting of a box-like structure having a top and sides, corner-posts the lower ends of which are adapted to be held between the sides of the base and the sides of the flooring, and the edges of which are furnished with vertical grooves, sides adapt ed at their ends to be held by the grooves in said posts and at their bottoms between the sides of the base and the floors, and a roof adapted to be removably held by the upper ends of said corner-posts.

2. In a toy house in combination, a base having a bottom and sides, a floor for each lower room consisting of a separate box-like structure, adapted to be held in said base,

corner-posts the lower ends of which are adapted to be held between the sides of the base and the sides of the flooring, and the edges of which are furnished with vertical grooves, sides adapted at their ends to be held by the grooves in said posts, and at their bottoms between the sides of the box and the floors, Tpartition-walis separating the rooms adapted at their bottoms to be held between the box-like structures forming the lower floors, and a roof adapted to be removably carried by the upper ends of said corner-posts.

3. The described means for holding the lower ends of the side walls and partitions of a knockdown toy house, comprising incombination with said walls and partitions, a base having a bottom and sides, and separate boxlike structures held in place by said base and forming each a floor for a lower room of said house.

4. In a toy house, in combination, a base having a bottom and sides, separate box-like structures held in place by said base and forming each a fioorfor a lower room of said house, side walls adapted at their lower ends to be held between the sides of said base and the sides of said floors, a partition -wall adapted to be held at its lower end between the sides of said floors, means for securing together adjoining corners of said side walls, means carried by said side walls and partitions for carrying upper floors, said upper floors, and a detachable roof.

5. In a collapsible toy house, a base having bottom and sides, floor-sections removably mounted in said base, and walls removably fitted between the sides of the base and fioorsections respectively.

6. In a collapsible toy house, a base having a bottom and sides, floor-sections removably mounted in said base and each consisting of a box-like structure having atop and sides bent at right angles thereto, and walls removably fitted between the sides of the base and fioorsections respectively.

7. In a collapsible toy house, a base composed of a box-like structure constituting the packing-box for the house, floor-sections removably mounted in said base, walls removably fitted between the sides of the base and floor-sections respectively, and a collapsible root removably supported upon the walls.

8. In a collapsible toy house, a base having a bottom and sides, floor-sections removably mounted in said base, walls removably fitted between the sides of the base and floor-sections respectively, corner-posts projecting above the house-walls and a roof provided with openings to receive the projecting ends of thecorner-posts. I

9. In a toy house, in combination, a house structure as described, a porch-floor formed from a flat sheet of paper adapted to be removably carried by the base and furnished with perforations to receive columns, said columns, a box-like roof of triangular crosssection furnished on its under side with perforations to receive the tops of said columns, an I'- shaped fastening carried by the rear side of said roof, and an r-shaped fastening carried bythe wall of said house and adapted to engage the fastening carried by the roof.

10. In a collapsible toy house, in combination, a base having a bottom and sides, floorsections removably supported within the base, corner-posts removably supported between the sides of the base and the floor-sections at the corners thereof, house-walls supported by said base and floors and corner-posts, and

a roof provided with openings to receive the upper ends of the corner-posts.-

11. The combination with a toy house of a I or root covering the top of said bay-window.

12. In a collapsible toy house, acollapsible bay-window having side wings,-and means for attaching said wings to the house.

13. In a collapsible toy house, a collapsible bay-window attached thereto and a roof removably supported upon the bay-window.

14. In a collapsible toy house, a wall, a collapsible bay-window attached thereto, a roof removably supported upon said bay-window, and means for holding the roof in position.

15. In a collapsible toy house, a collapsible bay-window formed from a strip of scored materialhaving means for attachment to the house and a roof having downwardly-projecting wings adapted to enter the open top of the bay-window whereby to support the roof in position, and prevent the window from collapsing.

16. In a collapsible toy house, a base, walls like gable-pieces for closing the ends of the roof.

18. In a collapsible toy house, a house-wall, a fastening-piece 2 having one edge secured thereto and its other edge free and a porchroof having a similar fastening-piece secured to the rear side thereof and arranged to inter lock with the fastening-piece on the housewall.

19. In a collapsible toy house, a base, a

porch-floor removably supported thereon, a

house-wall having a fastening-strip 2 secured to the face of said wall, a porch-roof having a similar fastening-piece secured to the rear side thereof and arranged to interlock with the said fastening-piece on the house-wall and posts having their opposite ends removably inserted into openings in the said floor and roof respectively. I

20. The combination in a roof for toy houses, of a fiat piece of heavy paper having hinged sides, T-shaped fasteners carried by the inner parts of the said sides, a grooved joining-strip adapted to secure the upper ends'of said sides,

and abox-like gable-piece for closing the ends formed by the sides and bottom pieces of the roof,the sides of said gable-piece being adapted to pass under the fasteners carried by the into which the adjacent edges of the side portions tit.

23, In a collapsible toy house, a collapsible gable-roof,flanged end pieces removably fitted inthe open ends of the gable, and lockingpieces secured to the said roof and cooperating with the flanges of said end pieces to hold the latter in position.

24. In a collapsible toy house, a collapsible roof, consisting of a main section comprising a body portion and side pieces hinged thereto and a second roof-section arranged at right angles to the main roof-section and having a hinged connection therewith, to permit one section to fold over upon the other.

25. In a collapsible toy house, a base, com prising a box-likestructure for containing the various parts of the house when collapsed, floor-sections removably fitted in said base, house walls removably fitted between the sides of the floor-sections and base respectively, and a partition having its lower end removably fitted between the adjacent ends of the said floor-sections.

26. In a collapsible toy house, a base, a roof, walls removably supported upon the base, and floor-sections removably supported by said house-walls between the roof and the base, whereby the house is divided into upper and lower stories.

27. In a collapsible toy house, a base, housewalls removably supported upon the base, supporting pieces or brackets attached to the interior ofthe house-walls and floor-sections removably supported upon said supporting pieces or brackets.

28. In a collapsible toy house, a base, walls removably supported upon thev base, a vertical partition dividing the house into separate rooms, brackets secured to the housewalls and to opposite sides of the partition and floor-sections removably supported upon said brackets.

GERHARD'I E. GRIMM.

Witnesses:

A. STANLEY PETERSON, CHARLES A. BUTTER. 

